From Your

EMUEA Negotiations

Team…

FIRST MEETING FOR 2014-2015

Negotiations opened May 13, 2014 at the Union office.  The District reviewed their financial situation and their projected $6 million budget surplus.  The CBO told us that the current cost of a district-wide all-employee 1% raise is about  $511,000.00.  

The District proposed an Intervention/Tutoring/Supervision during an extended lunch—which would add 30 minutes to our day and shorten teacher lunch to 30 minutes.  The particulars of the tutoring curriculum are vague at this point.

The  District proposed requiring all certificated non-teaching staff to support and promote college, career and parent involvement events for five (5) evenings during the year.

The District proposed adding 5% on the salary schedule.

The District proposed making the instructional minutes and preparation time at all five comprehensive high schools consistent.

In addition to discussing each of these proposals in order to understand the way the District team is thinking, the Association reviewed with the District team the salaries currently being offered at other districts and the length of time since the last cost of living adjustment (2007-2008).

Your Association is currently formulating a counter-proposal.

NO STRIKE/NO LOCKOUT

Here is an answer to a question many of you have asked:  after June 30, 2014, we are working without a contract.  Until we finalize a 2014-2015 contract, striking is back on the table.  Once we finalize the contract, the “No Strike” Article is back in force.  

US INFLATION—BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

BTW… If in 2007 you purchased an item for $20.00, then in 2014 that same item would cost $22.79—a cumulative inflation rate of 14%.  (http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl)

What should our message be?

I had a teacher recently ask, "What should our message to the board be?" I think part of my answer to him might be worth sharing more broadly. The school board, at its best, is a fellow-soldier in the war against lowered expectations and ignorance. I think an appeal to this is our best direction: 

 "I'm watching you. I know when the elections are. I expect you to make the best choices for the quality of education in this district...  

 "One vital ingredient for good education is excellent teaching staff. If you want the freedom to non-renew ineffective teachers in the first two years, EMUHSD must have a competitive salary structure that will have excellent teachers LINING UP to work here. 

"EMUHSD must have a professional environment that encourages smart, thinking teachers to stay here: teachers must be consulted about curriculum and instruction, must be given common goals and freed to achieve them in uncommon ways—using their own professional judgment.   

"Teachers must have good common assessments to use that are aligned to common standards and well-designed to be recursive so that an honest appraisal of a teacher's--or a program's--success can be made.

"I expect you to think while you are here serving on the EMUHSD School Board—not about your next career move but about your city, your district, your kids."

 If there are fifty personalized variations of that message every month, if we avoid personal attacks or insults and address them as colleagues of whom we expect the best—I think that would make negotiations better...lol...I don't think this needs to be a secret strategy. I don't play tricky games very well...I have a terrible memory for that kind of thing...lol...